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L1 Dulwich Hill Light Rail
The L1 Dulwich Hill Light Rail (formerly the Metro Light Rail) is the only currently operating light rail line in Sydney. The line opened on 31 August 1997, mostly along the route of an unused goods railway line, to serve the redeveloped inner-city areas of Darling Harbour, Ultimo and Pyrmont, and was extended in 2000 to serve some of Sydney's inner western suburbs. The line was extended again in 2014 to Dulwich Hill. The line is owned by the NSW Government's Transport for NSW. The line is currently served by 5-car Urbos 3 trams. Route Running from Central Railway Station to the inner western suburb of Lilyfield, the route extends for 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi), including 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) of on-street operation. Most of the alignment of the Metro Light Rail's Central to Lilyfield line had its origins as the Darling Harbour Goods Line. From the time when the Sydney Railway Company was formed in 1848, it had been the intention of the company to build a freight terminal at Darling Harbour. To this end, a railway line was constructed between the Sydney Railway Station (the predecessor to Central Railway Station) and Darling Harbour, which opened on 26 September 1855. This line was extended to Dulwich Hill via Lilyfield in 1922. With widespread use as a freight line throughout the early 20th century, the use of containers and the decentralisation of freight terminals in Sydney to places such as Port Botany and Chullora, Darling Harbour traffic was reduced considerably. The port was closed and the area redeveloped. In 1994, the Sydney Light Rail Company was formed. Construction and conversion of the first section of line from Central station to Wentworth Park started on 25 January 1996 and took 16 months to complete. Most of the original 3.6km line used the former Darling Harbour goods railway line and previous tramway routes. The original route opened for public operation with a trial service on 11 August 1997 with three weeks of testing. The official public opening was conducted by the then Premier of New South Wales Bob Carr on 31 August. A full revenue service started the next day at 6am on Monday 1 September. Buoyed by the success of the original line the route was extended along the closed section of the goods line to Lilyfield. The extension was officially opened on Sunday 13 August 2000. In 2009 goods traffic on the line between Rozelle and Dulwich Hill ceased and in February 2010 the NSW Labor Government announced the 5.6km extension of the light rail from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill. Work to upgrade the track and remove the overhead wiring began in August 2010. The project received planning approval in February 2011. The extension was originally scheduled to open in 2012, but in September 2011 the newly elected Coalition Government announced that it would not open until 2014, and that the cost had risen from $120 million to $176 million. The Greenway walking and cycling path which was to run alongside much of the route was deferred. The Coalition blamed hasty planning by Labor for the delay and cost overruns, and the lack of an active transport masterplan for the deferral of the Greenway. John Holland Group was announced as the successful tenderer for the infrastructure works on 31 May 2012. The company will design and build the 9 stations, bridge works, signalling and power supply. The extension is estimated to be used by 3,105 boarding passengers per weekday by 2016 with 415 of those arriving by train and 460 arriving by bus. NSW Government's Purchase On Friday, 23 March 2012 it was announced that the state government had bought Metro Transport Sydney, the owner of Sydney's Light Rail and Monorail systems. The NSW Government says that this will allow them to face fewer obstacles in extending the network. As of 2013, the light rail was rebranded with the “hop” logo as part of the Transport for NSW brand. The light rail network uses a red colour code at stops and a red-and-white livery on the trams. Some of these trams are covered with advertising. Stations Ticketing The Metro Light Rail used its own ticketing system based on zones, which was discontinued when Opal was rolled out. Day and weekly tickets which also allow travel on the Metro Monorail were available. A "TramLink" ticket allowed travel on Sydney Trains and the light rail, however it was removed with all other paper tickets. From 27 June 2011 the Metro Light Rail had been partially integrated into the broader Sydney ticketing system. Tickets recognised on the light rail were all MyMultis, the Pensioner Excursion Ticket and Family Funday Sunday. The integration led to a 30 to 40 percent increase in patronage on the line in the first months after introduction. From 1 August, 2016, the Sydney Light Rail no longer accepted MyZone Paper Tickets and converted to Opal cards. This is the current ticketing system on the Sydney Light Rail. The Opal ticketing system charges the same amount as an equivalent bus fare. Card readers are located on platforms at all stations. As these readers can be confused with train station Opal readers at Central, they have a sticker on them that indicate that they are for the light rail only. See also *CAF Urbos 3 *Light Rail in New South Wales *L2/L3 CBD and Southeast Light Rail *Parramatta Light Rail Category:Light Rail Category:Light Rail lines Category:Sydney Light Rail Lines Category:City of Sydney Category:Inner West Council